Aramco Shuttles Oil From the Red Sea to the Mediterranean to Dodge the Houthi Threat

Saudi Arabia has increased its crude oil exports from Egypt's Mediterranean port of Sidi Kerir by about 33 percent over the past month, since Yemen's Houthis threatened Saudi shipping in the southern Red Sea and the Bab el Mandeb Strait. According to OilPrice.com, citing Bloomberg tanker tracking data published Friday, August 21, 2026 (30 Mordad 1405), Aramco is now shuttling oil from its Yanbu port on the Red Sea north to Egypt's Ain Sukhna port, from where it moves via the SUMED pipeline to Sidi Kerir.

Based on data from Kpler, the new route has increased Aramco's shipments via the northern Red Sea route by about a third, to 1.1 million barrels per day. At least four tankers have each made the journey twice, moving more than 16 million barrels of oil. The new route, which then continues through the Mediterranean and around the Cape of Good Hope to Asia, adds nearly a month to the time it takes Saudi oil to reach Asian refiners.